Cyril Kormos

An ecoregion-based approach to protecting half the terrestrial realm

Abstract We assess progress toward the protection of 50% of the terrestrial biosphere to address the species-extinction crisis and conserve a global ecological heritage for future generations. Using a map of Earths 846 terrestrial ecoregions, we show that 98 ecoregions (12%) exceed Half Protected; 313 ecoregions (37%) fall short of Half Protected but have sufficient unaltered habitat remaining to reach the target; and 207 ecoregions (24%) are in peril, where an average of only 4% of natural habitat remains. We propose a Global Deal for Nature—a companion to the Paris Climate Deal—to promote increased habitat protection and restoration, national- and ecoregion-scale conservation strategies, and the empowerment of indigenous peoples to protect their sovereign lands. The goal of such an accord would be to protect half the terrestrial realm by 2050 to halt the extinction crisis while sustaining human livelihoods.

Great Apes and Biodiversity Offset Projects in Africa: The Case for National Offset Strategies

The development and private sectors are increasingly considering “biodiversity offsets” as a strategy to compensate for their negative impacts on biodiversity, including impacts on great apes and their habitats in Africa. In the absence of national offset policies in sub-Saharan Africa, offset design and implementation are guided by company internal standards, lending bank standards or international best practice principles. We examine four projects in Africa that are seeking to compensate for their negative impacts on great ape populations. Our assessment of these projects reveals that not all apply or implement best practices, and that there is little standardization in the methods used to measure losses and gains in species numbers. Even if they were to follow currently accepted best-practice principles, we find that these actions may still fail to contribute to conservation objectives over the long term. We advocate for an alternative approach in which biodiversity offset and compensation projects are designed and implemented as part of a National Offset Strategy that (1) takes into account the cumulative impacts of development in individual countries, (2) identifies priority offset sites, (3) promotes aggregated offsets, and (4) integrates biodiversity offset and compensation projects with national biodiversity conservation objectives. We also propose supplementary principles necessary for biodiversity offsets to contribute to great ape conservation in Africa. Caution should still be exercised, however, with regard to offsets until further field-based evidence of their effectiveness is available.

Wilderness and Intact Ecosystems

The term “wilderness” has several dimensions. It is used as a biological descriptor for intact or largely intact areas that have little or no industrial infrastructure and are remote from urban areas. It is also used as a protected area classification for areas corresponding to Category 1b—wilderness areas in IUCNs protected areas classification system. And finally, the term “wilderness” captures human relationships with wild places—from Indigenous Peoples who view wilderness not as a thing apart but as “home” to sacred natural sites to areas where urban populations recreate. Crucially, wilderness areas are not places where people are excluded, but rather places where certain human activities are restricted or not allowed. Wilderness areas around the world are shrinking quickly and are increasingly rare, and conservation of Earths remaining wilderness is urgently needed: they are indispensable for biodiversity conservation, for climate change mitigation and adaptation, for freshwater quality—and many other ecosystem services—and for the protection of cultural integrity and biocultural landscapes as well as livelihoods.

Primary Forests: Definition, Status and Future Prospects for Global Conservation

Primary forests are forests that are: (1) largely undisturbed by industrial-scale land uses and infrastructure such as logging, mining, and dams and roads; (2) the result of ecological and evolutionary processes including the full range of successional stages over time and with natural disturbance processes operating within historic bounds; (3) more likely to possess the full complement of their evolved, characteristic plant and animal species with few if any exotics; (4) dominated by a largely continuous tree canopy cover, and (5) have unpolluted soil and water. These forests are major strongholds for biodiversity and include the planets most biodiverse terrestrial ecosystems. They provide essential climate change mitigation and adaptation, freshwater, and other ecosystem service benefits. They are also critically important for livelihoods and for cultural and spiritual reasons and are home for many Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Primary forests are unfortunately in rapid decline globally. Over centuries, Earth has lost about 35% of its preagricultural forest cover. Today, only about 32% (~ 1.3 billion hectares) of the worlds forests are primary forest. We know that protected areas, indigenous, and community conservation are effective mechanisms for maintaining primary forests. National and international forest policies should prioritize the conservation of our planets remaining primary forests.